And I shall live forever
by D'len
Summary: Dracula's blood has the ultimate healing power, it can even bring back the dead. But he and everything he made was destroyed, no blood is left to awaken him. Pure evil will find a loophole to resurrect him at all costs. His murderers will suffer...
1. Prologue

Disclaimers: Van Helsing doesn't belong to me, this is just a story based on the movie. The plot and OC's are copyright to me. There will be a prequel for this up soon. Please enjoy!

Prologue:

Alexis was dancing at a party of some lord in London when she felt her father die. The terrible pain lasted forever and was over instantly. She collapsed onto the floor, the people around her merely blurs as she cried for him.

Waking up in a bed not her own, she tried to reach out with her senses. But they were no longer there. She was a lowly human again – admittedly with vampire blood, but still human and therefore mortal. It terrified her.

She had to find him, had to bring him back again before it was too late – for him and for her.

AN: A bit short, but the long journey back to Transylvania is next!


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimers: Van Helsing doesn't belong to me, this is just a story based on the movie. The plot and OC's are copyright to me. There will be a prequel for this up soon. Please enjoy!

Note: Please don't be worried about the slight, very slight crossover appearing here. They have barely any part in the story and it just seemed fitting that Alexis would come into contact with them in London (and it makes for a great prequel idea).

[blah, blah] – Romanian

blah, blah- thoughts.

Thanks so much for all the reviews!

****

Chapter 1:

Transylvania:

After Anna's funeral, Carl managed to convince Van Helsing that it would be in the best interest of everyone if they were to catalogue everything in Dracula's castle – especially the books – with the hunter as back-up in case any other nasties were still around. The Order would come and collect everything later. The mirror-doorway became passable after the death of Dracula and it was decided that at least one of them would be in the house and the other would be in the castle. Carl was mostly reading the books and Van Helsing was brooding as he snooped around.

Truth be told, Van Helsing wanted to stay a bit longer anyway to savour the memories he had of Anna. He still had no memory of the things Dracula spoke of, but he believed it to be best that such things stay forgotten.

It had started to snow almost immediately after Anna's funeral and it had gradually turned into a snowstorm. After three days it was still going strong. There was no way that they would have been able to leave and cross the pass through the mountains. So they stayed.

Ten days after the death of Dracula, there was a knock on the front door.

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London, ten days earlier:

She tried again to sense the world around her, but nothing came to her. It was a silent, dark world through the eyes of a human.

Neither the silence, nor the weakness frightened her as much as the feeling of emptiness inside her. Her father had always been there, always had she felt him, knew where he was, felt his love for her – but now, there was nothing. An endless wave of nothingness, fear and loneliness threatened to overwhelm her and she did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.

Earlier:

Watson was looking out a window in one of the guest bedrooms in Lady Roman's mansion. He had been awake most of the night, watching over the young woman lying in the bed. His detective friend left earlier to pursue a case they were working on and now he was alone with the strange young man that was the servant of the Lady. The poor man was frantic when he was called to come to his mistress's bedside. He didn't look too well, he was very worried about his mistress and didn't sleep at all the night before.

There was quite an uproar after Alexis collapsed on the dance floor: people thought she was poisoned (there was a number of such murders over the past few months), but Watson assured them that she had only fainted. He sighed, actually he wasn't sure what was wrong with her, so he insisted that she be in one of the guestrooms close to the front door, in case something else went wrong.

"I still have no idea what happened to her, she just collapsed. But she seems to be only sleeping now. I'm worried about her, she's been... preoccupied lately, and a few days ago she didn't look well at all. I hope she's all right."

He turned away from the window, "Perhaps there is a chance for breakfast?" He asked Igor. The servant nodded, glad to be able to do something useful.

As Watson waited, he found himself looking at the girl in the bed. With her pitch-black hair and, beneath her closed lids, deep blue eyes, she was superbly beautiful... Very polite, helpful and many would say a good person, but there was something about her, hidden depths in her eyes that made him shiver sometimes. Something dark had happened in her past. However, he believed that everyone had the right to a second chance to life and that she was here in London for that very reason.

The poor man had no idea how wrong he was.

Soon afterwards Igor placed a modest breakfast on a small table in the room, close to the window. Watson was about to take a bite of toast when they heard a scream behind them like that of a damned soul falling into hell. They were frozen in place, then Igor jumped up and rushed to the bed. Alexis had her face turned upwards, screaming. Watson felt an instant of pure terror at the look on her face. It was the look of a soul that had no purpose left, damned to be alone for all eternity. It only lasted a moment. Igor ran to her side and slapped her so hard she fell onto the floor - he would have done anything to stop that terrible sound.

The spell was broken. The doctor ran to the bed as Igor was helping the young girl back onto the bed. She was clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

[Oh, gods, he's dead, he's dead, the master's dead!], she sobbed, not paying attention to the doctor, probably not even knowing that he was there.

[He's dead, my children, they're all dead!!]

Igor became very pale and still. This was bad. His mistress was close enough for him to feel her heartbeat. It was getting worse by the second. A heartbeat meant that she was human again, or as human as it was possible for her to be.

The master was dead. He couldn't believe it. He and his family had served the master for centuries and now only the young mistress was left, all the others were dead too. An idea was trying to make itself known to Igor, but he just couldn't place a finger on it.

Everyone was dead, except the mistress. How was that possible? He looked at her, crying in his arms. She should be dead too, since she was a vampire, but she just turned back to the way she was before...

That was the key. He frowned as he tried to remember the story his father told him about the true child of Dracula... After Dracula made his bargain with the Devil, he returned to his home, to his young wife. No one at that stage knew that he had been murdered and become something more than human, since he was still changing. Not long afterwards his nature was discovered and he was banished through the mirror-doorway.

A child was born to his widow. Everyone was sure that the baby was conceived before the change, but they were wrong. The little girl was human in many ways, but so very different in others. She asked her mother strange questions about a snow-covered castle in the clouds and the man that lived there. People thought that she just had an active imagination, but her mother and her grandfather knew better and they were afraid.

When she was five years old, her father came for her.

Igor was sure he knew what was happening. His mistress was changed into a vampire when she was old enough, but she was part vampire anyway to begin with. Now, after the master's death, the created vampire in her was destroyed, but the part of her that was human/proto-vampire remained. Her human part was keeping the proto-vampire alive, even after her father's death.

Alexis had calmed down a bit and Igor gently wiped the tears away. [Mistress, mistress is still alive], he consoled her, [mistress should have died too, but only the vampire died, the human part still lives].

Those words only sank in after a few moments. She was still alive, against all odds. Then she too realised... She was of his blood and still alive...

[I can bring him back], she whispered, [Igor, you're right! I can bring him back again! He doesn't have to stay dead, I can save him!].

The tears were forgotten, the pain and loneliness faded into the background in the light of this new revelation... and Igor was happy – he figured something out all on his own.

At last she looked around her and frowned in confusion, "Where am I? Why are you here, Doctor?"

"Are you all right? You screamed loud enough to wake the dead."

Shivering slightly, she said, "Just a nightmare", and wrapped her arms around herself.

He wisely decided to leave that alone.

"You collapsed last night, do you remember?" he asked kindly. "We brought you back home..."

"This is a guestroom, mistress, the doctor thought it best..."

"I didn't know what was wrong with you, I wanted to be able to go for help quickly if needed", Watson finished.

Alexis nodded, slightly involved in her own thoughts. She hadn't felt like this in centuries, I wonder if I still remember how.

"I'm fine". Slowly she swinged her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. Swaying slightly, holding on to Igor, she walked to the window. "I'm fine", she repeated. The doctor didn't look convinced, but she didn't care.

"Igor, I want you to book passage across the channel as soon as possible. Pack what we will need." Smiling, she said, "We're going home."

As Igor made to leave: "Oh, Igor", she said sweetly. He turned towards her, he didn't like the way that sounded.

"Yes, mistress?"

"You hit me", she whispered dangerously, as she turned to face him.

He gulped: "Yes, mistress, sorry mistress."

For a long moment she just stared at him and then smiled.

"You're the only one I have left now, we're going to need each other if we're going to do this."

"Yes, mistress", he said, relieved, and scurried out.

"Doctor", she turned to him, he noticed, with all of her confidence back, "thank you for your help..."

"You're leaving?"

She frowned at the interruption: "Yes, I'm going home. It's something I've been putting off for far too long... Perhaps we can discuss this after I've changed? I'll see you in the drawing room", she said and brushed past the bewildered doctor.

Back in her room, she leaned on the closed door and gave a shuddering sigh. This is going to be a very forbidding enterprise without her vampire abilities, but perhaps not as hard as she feared. Concentrating and holding out her hand, a flick of her wrist lit all the candles in the room with a flare.

Perhaps this wasn't going to be that difficult after all, she thought with a smirk, at least I was spared my magic.

Emboldened with this good fortune, she went about changing out of the uncomfortable ball gown - Igor wasn't bold enough to do so as she slept. As she went into the closet, a movement in the corner of her eye startled her. It was her reflection – something she hadn't seen in over four hundred years.

[Father, I will get home and bring you back to me], she vowed as she looked at her reflection.

AN: I know I promised the journey, but this chapter just didn't want to be finished. Next time, really, the journey back home.

AN2: The whole human/proto-vampire thing will be explained further as time goes on.

AN3: Yes, the Igor of Dracula died, this is Igor, his son, serving Alexis. They're all called Igor - it just makes it easier to remember, allbeit a bit confusing sometimes.


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimers: Van Helsing doesn't belong to me, this is just a story based on the movie. The plot and OC's are copyright to me. There will be a prequel for this up soon. Please enjoy!

Note: Please don't be worried about the slight, very slight crossover appearing here. I will try to make their part as small as possible.

Note2: It seems to confuse some that there is an Igor in London. He is the son of Igor, who died on the bridge. They're all called Igor, it just makes it easier for the vampires to remember. (He doesn't look like the movie-Igor either.)

[blah, blah] – Romanian

#blah, blah# - thoughts.

Chapter 2:

Day one:

Packing wasn't such a chore as one would have believed. There was always a bag packed and ready, in case something happened and they had to leave in a hurry.

Alexis decided to wear a plain dark blue dress, plain of course only because it wasn't made of silk - she was royalty after all. Digging around in the closet, she found the old trunk she was looking for. As a child, she was trained in the use of many types of weapons so she could defend herself if the locals ever managed to corner her. After her change, she didn't really need them, but they were of sentimental value to her. Many wonderful memories were contained in that trunk, memories of her father playing with her, teaching and training her to take her place at his side.

She strapped a dagger to her right thigh and one to her left forearm, making sure that the sleeve covered it from casual notice. Most of the other weapons ended up in the emergency bag and left on the bed for Igor to collect. Moving around the room, she suddenly noticed how instinctively she walked to avoid the direct sunlight streaming through the window. Slowly stretching her arm out, she shuddered at the image of her arm bathed in light: #This feels _so_ wrong#. Clouds were vampires' best friends in the daylight. Usually sunlight had a 'weight' to it and sometimes it was so heavy, it pushed though the skin to cause pain. That was the only way to describe the sensation of the light bearing down on one. It was just another of the silly restrictions put on them after the Bargain was made, just to make hunting easier for the humans - not that it seemed to have helped them at all. Most of the restrictions were meant as something symbolic, but she never really cared about it, except that it was a nuisance at times.

At last the confrontation with the doctor couldn't be put off any longer. #I need time to think! Everything is happening too fast, I don't even have a plan yet and I'm rushing off into the unknown.# But, of course, this didn't really matter, there was lots of time before they would arrive at the castle...

Slowly walking down the stairs to the main foyer, Alexis marvelled at how different everything looked to what she was used to. There were a lot more shadows and things seemed greyer than normal. It was going to take some getting used to.

Standing outside the drawing room, watching the doctor as he paced, she wondered what he was thinking. It was apparent that he suspected something different about her, what precisely that something was, only he knew. Without the ability to mesmerise him, she had to be very careful with her words: he was much too intelligent to just accept any old story she could make up and her position in society had to be protected. She had a feeling it would come in handy later on...

Watson paced as he waited. That girl really did infuriate him sometimes. Fainting like that, bad nightmares, flushed and unsteady on her feet - those were signs that there was something seriously wrong with her. He hoped that she wouldn't be stubborn about it.

He turned as the door opened and was struck again by how beautiful she was. But as she moved with less grace than he was used to towards the nearest chair, he was reminded of the seriousness of the situation again.

"My Lady, are you all right?"

"I am fine."

"I beg to differ, my dear, you should be resting, not going off on a long journey."

"No rest for the wicked," he heard her whisper.

"There is no time to rest. I have to return home."

"Why the urgency? Surely you could wait a few days."

She narrowed her eyes at this.

"Actually, you mean that I should stay and help you in _your_ investigation. I do not see any reason for me to continue in it. I'm sure you and your friend are well enough on your way to find the culprit - it really isn't that difficult to realise who it is, after all."

He blinked at her.

"That's not what I meant at all!" he cried, "I only wanted to be sure that you are all right. I do care about you, you know."

They stared at each other for a while and then Alexis sighed.

"I received news from home a few days ago, not good news. I decided to stay, but the stress..." Putting her hand over her eyes, she shuddered at the feeling of loss and pain that was still there.

Just then Igor entered the room with a tray of sandwiches and juice.

"Mistress, there is place booked on a ship for us on the morning tide."

"Good, thank you, Igor, we will leave as soon as possible. Prepare the carriage."

She looked at the tray, "What are those?"

"Sandwiches, mistress, to keep your strength up."

Slowly taking one, she took a bite. It tasted disgusting, but it was necessary - and the doctor was watching her with an eagle eye.

"What happened last night made me realise that it was the wrong decision. I have to go, to see that everything is all right. I have very little family left and I could not bear to lose them."

"What happened?" he asked gently.

"I... I cannot tell you," She stood up and walked to the window, "except that ruling is easy compared to staying alive."

She turned to him and said in a pleading tone: "I need to know that they are all right, can you understand that?"

They both heard the sound of hoofs on the cobblestones outside. Looking down into the yard, Watson saw a carriage with black horses pull up and Igor jumping down from the driver's seat.

"We will take you back to your apartment on our way. I must see that everything is ready. Please meet us in the foyer," and with a swish of cloth she left the room.

Watson just shook his head. What strange people these foreign aristocrats are.

A few minutes later he was joined by Alexis wearing a black cloak and Igor, who was almost invisible under all the bags and supplies. Watson saw sleeping rolls and camping gear amongst the clutter, which puzzled him no end, but he decided to keep his peace.

The carriage clattered along the cobblestones of inner city London on its way to Baker Street. It was only mid-morning, but such a fine day that the sidewalks were completely packed with people. He watched as the Lady glared at the pedestrians as they swarmed over the street, blocking it. At last they arrived at their destination.

"Good day, Doctor, and do not worry, you will see me again," she said as Watson got out.

"May God bless your journey."

He watched as the carriage drove away and wondered about the pained expression on her face with his parting words.

#I just hope he didn't jinx the whole thing now.#

It was an uneventful but slow journey to Dover. They arrived just before closing time of an inn close to the wharf. After much haggling, they managed to rent space for the carriage and someone to care for the horses. There was only one room left in the inn, so it was democratically decided that Alexis would get the bed and most of the blankets while Igor got the fireplace and all the wood he could want.

Alexis didn't sleep well that night. There was something about all this that wasn't making much sense. The monster was the key to life for their children and no other could take his place, but she felt such sorrow a few days before from her father, the same she felt a year ago. They had failed again to awaken the children and it hurt. But last night was different: she felt her own children die, as her father died. Why would they keep on trying if they had already failed twice? There was something she was missing, but what?

And another thing: only a werewolf could kill him, but that's why he had a cure - and in any case, no one knew that little titbit of information anyway. Who would be strong enough to fight the will of such a powerful being? However she looked at it, there was only one useful conclusion. Somewhere out there, there was a werewolf loose and in her weakened state, she didn't have any real defence against it.

Day two:

They woke up to a dull and dreary morning. Breakfast was slop, as Alexis referred to it, but Igor seemed to like it. She left him to it - it just made her nauseous.

The ship they were booked on was the 'Freedom' and at least the rooms weren't too bad, albeit a bit cramped. The captain welcomed them on-board - at least her title meant some privileges - and was most helpful.

Fortunately they encountered no storms on the way and they made landfall two days later and found an inn for the night.

Day four:

The best way to travel across Europe was by train. There was no way that she was going to risk a storm sinking their ship if they tried to sail on the Adriatic Sea. It was the season for storms anyway and they were very lucky that they encountered none on the channel crossing. So, by train it was. Igor booked them all the way to Budapest so all that was left for them to do was wait and hope that it wouldn't be too late...

AN: Right, next time more back-story and more travelling! I do apologise for the Doctor - he just didn't seem to want to go away and he probably won't show up again.

Thanks for all the reviews!


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimers: Van Helsing doesn't belong to me, this is just a story based on the movie. The plot and OC's are copyright to me. There will be a prequel for this up soon.

Note: The ideas expressed here concerning the nature of the Devil, magic and origin of vampires are solely for the movement of the plot line and should not be taken as truth. No offence is intended to those that know more about these things than I do.

Thanks for the reviews, they help a lot.

[blah, blah] – Romanian

#blah, blah# - thoughts.

Chapter 3:

Day six:

They've been on the train for almost two days now, only getting off at night for refueling. Usually the village had an inn that wasn't too scruffy and her title afforded them the best room. Igor wouldn't let her out of his sight and, although it bothered her the first while, she was glad that he was around. She hadn't been feeling very well - a strange stupor was upon her and it was getting worse.

They had just passed the border post into Austria and she decided to revert to her true name at the next stop near the border of Hungary. Her real name, her real heritage. The past few days had given her a lot of time to think and her conclusions weren't very promising for them or their quest.

Igor had managed to secure them one of the luxury coaches on the train and the sixth day since the master's death found Alexis lounging on one of the plush chairs, staring out the window at the falling rain. Before her was a lit candle, a decanter of water and a glass half full of black liquid. Her suspicions were confirmed, although she had hoped that she was mistaken, but magic never lies.

The candle was burned low when Igor entered with a tray of food. He had tried to make sure that his mistress was well fed and strong, but something was wrong. She was very pale and he suspected that she had a fever. He had no idea what it was and it frightened him.

"Igor," she said as he put the tray down, "I'm dying."

He nearly dropped the tray in his shock.

"Mistress?" he squeaked.

She turned away from the window.

"It's true, look," she pointed to the glass and he went pale and sat down heavily on a chair.

"How...?" he whispered.

She stared a very long time at him and then decided that nothing was as important as getting the master back.

"You must promise never to tell anyone of this, ever. No human has ever heard this and I would prefer not to tell you, but since this is an emergency, I will need your help if I'm to survive long enough."

He nodded frantically.

"Very well then..."

She took a deep breath to compose herself - but she was terrified of her fate.

"When father was murdered, he made a deal with the Devil. As part of the deal, the Devil gave him a gift, a part of Himself. The gift cannot stay the same inside a human, it must change and in its changing, change the human as well. In my father, he changed into a vampire. But before he was completely changed, I was conceived. I received a part of my mother and a part of my father. As part of me - inside my Code of Life, as the Ancients called it - the gift stayed the same. It could not change, since it was not introduced, but part of my very being."

"That gift gave me magic, because of my connection to the Devil. It is almost completely unchanged - my father slept with my mother only a day after the Deal and had changed little in that time."

She turned to Igor from her pacing of the coach.

"I have an almost pure part of the Devil inside me."

Igor squirmed under her gaze, but then suddenly she turned away again.

"The problem is that the human body wasn't made to handle something like this, this alien presence. My very being was poisoning me from the inside, but we thought that I had just picked up some illness somewhere - we didn't even figure all this out until centuries later. I was changed almost two years before Father wanted to, but at the end I was so sick that he despaired for my life and was forced to bring me across."

"The gift - in its changed form from my father - overpowered my human side, but couldn't transform it like it does in normal vampires. That's why, when Father died the vampire he gave me died, but I didn't. Usually the gift would infuse into the human part and change, like it did for Father, but in me it stayed the same. I am his true equal; none other can claim this."

"Every descendent vampire would be weaker than the one that changed it, caused by the dilution of the gift. You remember those poor unfortunates that we had to destroy a few years ago - they were barely strong enough to transform, let alone hunt. They were the products of diluted blood."

"I had forgotten all about this, but it's happening again. I'm dying, slowly and painfully."

She sat down wearily on the chair.

"How long...?"

"A few days, perhaps a week. I don't know really, but there isn't much time left."

He patted her hand.

"Don't worry, mistress, we'll find a way."

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AN: Right then, this was a small interlude, with the added bonus of a backstory. Next time, even more travelling and a look at what Van Helsing and his little friend are doing.


End file.
